1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a control method for the image forming apparatus, and a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional image forming apparatus prioritizes user convenience and simplification of a control operation. With such prioritization, the conventional image forming apparatus does not employ a configuration in which the start and stop of power supply are individually performed for each component (e.g., a print apparatus and a scanner apparatus) of the image forming apparatus.
In recent years, however, an image forming apparatus is expected to provide a higher power-saving effect. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-201986 discusses an image forming apparatus in which a power supply to each component is individually controlled by a function operated inside the image forming apparatus. Such a configuration is expected to enable the image forming apparatus to have further power-saving effect.
The image forming apparatus includes consumable parts including an operation part, such as a mechanical relay and a motor, and a part, for example for a light source, which reaches a high temperature. The consumable part usually has an upper limit usage time of the number of power on and off operations with which the operation quality can be guaranteed.
However, the power supply may be controlled in the image forming apparatus having the configuration discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-201986 such that the power supply is turned on and off repeatedly in a relatively short time. It is easy to imagine that such control causes the consumable part to exceed the number of endurance limit times thereof in a shorter time period than an estimated lifespan of the image forming apparatus.
In this case, the operation quality of the component of the image forming apparatus cannot be guaranteed. As a result, a lifespan of the image forming apparatus becomes shortened, causing technical difficulty in achieving both of further power-saving effect and prolonged lifespan of the image forming apparatus.